Explosive blast rocks I-80 on purpose

Caltrans: Next project is Homeland Security issue

Just after the lunch hour, an explosion and smoke plume could be seen along westbound Interstate 80 in the Sierra.

The blast shut down the freeway for nearly 30 minutes, and came as a surprise to some locals.

"That's not something you hear every day up here," said Antonio Orozco, a Gold Run resident.

But as unusual as some say the blast was, Caltrans said it was planned long in advance as part of the final phase of a four-year effort to repave I-80 through the Sierra.

"We have no security issue here," said Rochelle Jenkins, a Caltrans spokeswoman.

However, Jenkins is spreading the word about Caltrans' next project, which is a security-related issue after the paving project finishes this fall.

Starting in 2014, Jenkins says Caltrans will began the unique task of raising a series of nine I-80 overpasses stretching from Loomis to the Colfax area because of a national security issue.

"If we ever, heaven forbid, have an event where the military needed to move resources from here to the coast, they couldn't," Jenkins said.

That's because those overpasses do not meet minimum height standards for military transports.

Jenkins said Caltrans already is reaching out to businesses that could be impacted by the construction, because those overpasses will have to be closed for up to a month at a time during the two-year construction period.

Interstate 80 also could experience nine overnight closures and detours.

"That could be an issue for those business in those areas," Orozco said.

As for Wednesday's explosive blast, Jenkins is also advising travelers that this means the summer construction season is now underway in the Sierra.

She said I-80 drivers should expect one-lane closures from Highway 20 to the Emigrant area until the paving project is completed in the fall.

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